Hat toy

ABSTRACT

A HAT TOY WORN ON THE HEAD OF A PERSON AND OPERATED BY SWINGING THE HEAD TO MAKE FIGURES WITH A WEIGHT AND STREAMER OF THE TOY. THE HAT PORTION INCLUDES A CIRCULAR ELASTIC HEADBAND WHICH FITS TIGHTLY ON THE HEAD OF A PERSON, AND CROSSBANDS EXTENDING ACROSS THE HEADBAND IN AN ARC AND HAVING A CENTRAL ANCHORING PORTION TO WHICH A FREE SWINGING FLEXIBLE LINE IS ATTACHED. A WEIGHT IS AFFIXED TO THE END OF THE LINE AND CARRIES A STREAMER WHICH TRACES THE PATH OF THE WEIGHT AS THE WEIGHT LOOPS ABOUT WHEN THE HEAD IS SWUNG. IN A PREFERRED EMBODIMENT, THE HEADBAND IS SPLIT AND HAS OVERLAPPING ENDS RESPECTIVELY CARRYING HOOKING MATERIAL AND PILE MATERIAL PROVIDING AN OVERLAP FABRIC FASTENER TO ADJUST THE SIZE OF THE HEADBAND TO FIT THE HEAD OF THE PERSON FIRMLY.

Oct. 19, 1971 GRAHAM 3,613,294

HAT TOY Filed March 13, 1970 INVIL'N'I )R.

DAVID E. GRAHAM.

SETTLE 8 OLTMAN.

United States Patent Office 3,613,294 Patented Oct. 19, 1971 ABSTRACT OFTHE DISCLOSURE 10 A hat toy worn on the head of a person and operated byswinging the head to make figures with a weight and streamer of the toy.The hat portion includes a circular elastic headband which fits tightlyon the head of a person, and crossbands extending across the headband inan arc and having a central anchoring portion to which a free swingingflexible line is attached. A weight is affixed to the end of the lineand carries a streamer which traces the path of the weight as the weightloops about when the head is swung. In a preferred embodiment, theheadband is split and has overlapping ends respectively carrying hookingmaterial and pile material providing an overlap fabric fastener toadjust the size of the headband to fit the head of the person firmly.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Hat devices provided with a swinging weightare known, for example, for exercising and play purposes. It has beenproposed to provide a headgear of relatively heavy construction withfastening means for securing the headgear to the head. Such a heavy dutyheadgear increases the cost of the device and makes it more difficult tofabricate, all of which limits the markets for such devices.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is a hat toy in which thehat portion is constructed of elastic bands including a circularheadband and arcuate crossbands which conform to and hug tightly thehead of the wearer so that the weight of the device can be swung on theend of a line by swinging the head without pulling the hat off from thewearers head. In a preferred embodiment, the headband is made of elasticmaterial, and has overlapping end portions which carry fabric fasteningmaterial. That is, hooking material on one end portion adheres to pilematerial on the other end portion when pressed together. By means ofthis overlap fastening, the headband may be adjusted to a size such thatit may be stretched to fit on the head and will tightly hug the head ofthe wearer so as to be anchored firmly in place. In this embodiment theflexible line preferably projects from a rigid post affixed to ananchoring portion located where the crossbands cross each other toencourage free swinging of the line and weight.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide an improved hattoy having a swinging weight and streamer and having a simplified andyet reliable hat portion.

Another object of the invention is to enable adjustment of the size ofthe hat portion by means of an overlap fastening of the headband of thehat portion.

Another object of the invention is to make the hat 5 portion entirely ofelastic bands including a headband and crossbands which firmly hug thehead of a wearer so as to positively retain the hat on the head of thewearer.

Among the other objects of the invention are to provide a hat toy whichis relatively easy to fabricate, which stays on the head of the wearerduring operation, which folds to facilitate packaging, which isadjustable in size, and which is relatively inexpensive.

Other objects of this invention will appear from the followingdescription and appended claims, reference being had to the accompanyingdrawings forming a part of this specification wherein like referencecharacters designate corresponding parts in the several views.

ON THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is an elevational view of a hat toy in accordancewith one embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 2 is a perspective view of the hat toy with the flexible line andthe weight and streamer omitted.

AS SHOWN ON THE DRAWINGS The hat toy shown in the drawings includes ahat 10, a flexible line 12- affixed to the crown of the hat, a weight 14afiixed to the end of the flexible line remote from the hat, and a longstreamer 16 aflixed to the weight 14. The hat 10 is worn on the head ofa person such as a child for play or exercise purposes. The childoperates the toy by merely swinging his head around in a looping fashionso as to make the weight 14 describe arcs, circles, loops, or anycontinuous path dictated by the swinging movement of the childs head.The streamer 16 traces the movement of the weight 14 and provides avisual pattern of the path of movement resulting in a visual attractionfor the toy.

The hat 10 is preferably constructed entirely from elastic bandsincluding a circular elastic headband 18 and two elastic crossbands 20and 22. The headband 18 is arranged to be circular or cylindrical inconfiguration, and the headband is split or non-continuous such that ithas two overlapping ends 2 4 and 26. Affixed to the inside surface ofthe end 24 is hooking material 28 for a fabric fastener of the overlaptype, and afiixed to the outside face of the end 26 is pile material 30for a fabric fastener. The materials 28 and 30 may be stitched orotherwise adhered to the ends 24 and 26, and, of course, their positionscould be reversed. When the hooking material 28 is pressed onto the pilematerial 30, many tiny hooks grab or adhere to the pile material 30 tosecurely fasten the two materials together. However, the hookingmaterial 28 can be relatively easily peeled off of the pile material 30to unfasten ends 24 and 26 when desired. The advantage of using anoverlap fastener of this type is that it allows for continuous variationof the size of the headband 18-that is, the circumference thereofwithout resorting to spaced localized fasteners such as snaps or thelike.

The ends 24 and 26 are overlapped sufficiently to adjust the headband toa size substantially smaller than the head of the person who will wearthe hat so that the headband 18 must be stretched substantially in orderto fit on the head of the wearer. Thus, when in place, the headbandfirmly hugs the head of the wearer to retain it in place.

The crossbands 20 and 22 are identical, and they are preferably bands ofelastic material which extend from side to side of the headband 18diametrically across the same in quadrantal relation relative to eachother. The ends of the crossbands 2-2 and 24 as at 32 by way of exampleare stitched to the headband 18. The crossbands are stitched to eachother to provide an anchoring portion 34 at the crown of the hat 10, andof course it may be seen that the crossbands 20 and 22 are arcuate inform so as to hug the head of the person when the hat is worn.

A post '36, which may be a hollow tube, is affixed to the anchoringportion 34, and this may be accomplished by providing an opening in theupper crossband 20 at the anchoring portion '34 and inserting the post36 through this opening before the bands 20 and 22 are stitched togetherat the anchoring portion 34. The post 36 has a head which is notvisible, but which is larger than the opening in band 20 at anchoringportion 34 and which lies between band 20 and band 22 to anchor the post36 in place. The post 36 may be a hollow tube, and the flexible line 12projects from the post 36 as shown.

The line 12 may extend through the post 36 to a free end which isknotted between crossbands 20 and 22 to firmly retain the line in place,but the portion of the line outside the post 36 is free swinging. Thepost 36 tends to keep the swinging portion of the line away from the hat10 to help keep the line from fouling on the hat. The line should besufficiently long to hang down below the shoulders of the wearer when ina stationary position, but not so long as to extend to the floor orground on which the person is standing.

A weight 14, which may be a ring, is afiixed as by tieing to the end ofthe flexible line 12. The weight 14 need not be particularly heavyonlysufficiently heavy to give the line momentum as it is swung about by theperson swinging his head.

The streamer 16 is atfixed at one end to the weight 14 as by turning thestreamer through the ring 14 and adhering it to itself, or by tieing thestreamer to the ring 14 if desired. As previously mentioned, thestreamer 16 traces the path of the weight 14 and provides a patternshowing the path which the weight is following. Thus, the child or otherperson wearing hat toy can loop the weight 14 in many differentpatterns, and the streamer will trace those patterns providing a sort ofvisual display of the patterns.

Since the hat 10 is made entirely of flexible elastic bands, it can befolded easily, and of course the line and streamer can also be easilyfolded so that the entire hat toy can be placed in a package ofrelatively small size for marketing purposes. Due to the elasticity ofthe bands of the hat and the overlap fastening of the head band, it ispossible to assure that the hat will always tightly fit on the head ofthe wearer so that the centrifugal force exerted by the weight when itis swinging will not pull the hat off the head of the wearer. The hattoy is relatively easy to fabricate as has been described, and of coursevariations in the specific fabrication techniques mentioned herein arepossible.

Having thus described my invention, I claim:

1. A hat toy worn on the head of a person and operated by swinging thehead to make figures with a looping weight and streamer of the toy, saidhat toy comprising a hat having a cylindrical elastic headband split onone side thereof and having overlapping first and second ends at thesplit, said first end having pile material atfixed on a side thereoffacing said second end, and said second end having hooking materialadhering to said pile material when pressed thereon and adjustablypositioned to adjust the size of said headband to fit horizontally onthe forehead of the person firmly, with the elasticity of said headbandfurther enabling a tight fit to retain said headband in place,crossbands afiixed at ends thereof to said headband and each extendingfrom side to side of said headband diametrically across the top of samein an arc to conform to the persons skull, said cross bands being spacedangularly from each other but crossing each other and secured togetherat an anchoring portion located centrally of said headband and spacedabove the same, a free swinging flexible line attached to said anchoringportion sufficiently long to extend past the shoulders of the personwithout reaching the floor or ground when the hat is worn, a weightaflixed to the end of said line remote from said anchoring portion, anda long streamer aflixed to said weight, whereby the person may swing hishead to loop said weight and trace figures with said streamer withoutthe weight pulling the headband from the head of the person.

2. The hat toy as claimed in claim 1 in which each of said crossbandsconsists of elastic material.

3. The hat toy as claimed in claim 2 in which only two crossbands arestitched at ends thereof to said headband in quadrantal relation withsaid crossbands crossing each other centrally of and above saidheadband, said anchoring portion being located where said crossbandscross.

4 The hat toy as claimed in claim 3 in which a rigid post projects upfrom said anchoring portion and said line extends from said post.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS ROBERT PESHOCK, Primary Examiner

